Mildred Bunting Miller, Two Cows in Woods
In this work, Bunting Miller brilliantly captures the warmth of the dappled sunlight as it traverses the woods. Her brushstrokes are free and gestural, allowing her to convey the specific anatomy of the cows with great economy.
Miller was born in Philadelphia and attended Lafayette College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1910 to 1915, where she received two Cresson Travel Scholarships and her teachers included Thomas Pollock Anshutz, Hugh Henry Breckenridge, Daniel Garber, and Violet Oakley. In 1916 Miller became a resident artist, instructor, and co-director of the Academy's summer school in Chester Springs, where she taught for many years alongside Henry McCarter. She may have painted Two Cows in Woods in Chester Springs, and it is likely that she met Mary G. L. Hood there, perhaps through McCarter.
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Few people know that in 1964, Mildred Bunting Miller left some personal letters to her niece, Virginia Brown. The Bunting letters talk about her early life in Chester Springs and her later life in California. Since Miller's death in 1964, Virginia Brown has put together some of her aunt's personal notes, and has added her own memories to those of her aunt's. On page 49 of the book Mildred is quoted by her niece as writing on December 21, 1921: "I am beginning to paint tree shadows on a white wall, and I have introduced an old woman with a cane, and a baby playing. It will be called 'Shadow Patterns' and something about the grotesque ephemeral shape of the shadows, and the old woman, will suggest the passing of life, - ...". Her niece wrote: " ... she (Mildred) represents many fine artists who never become famous and whose artistic struggles in relative obscurity add a quiet heroism to their lives." The auto-biography/biography is called: "Mildred Miller Remembered, an Intimate Portrait of an American Artist". by Virginia Brown. The book may be ordered online at: Xlibris Corporation 1-888-795-4274 www.Xlibris.com Orders@Xlibriscom Library of Congress # 2005908926 ISBN: HARDCOVER 1-59926-892-2 SOFT COVER 1-59926-891-4 Thanks to Virginia Brown, Mildred Miller has a real story that is not lost. It is time for Mildred Miller's shadows to be shown on many a white wall. And that her personal story is known. I thank you all for saving some of her art in your Woodmere Collection. Wood